Westwood’s co-activist Lily Cole opened the show with a Celtic earth mother dance before chalked-up models with creepy face paint walked the Spring/Summer 2014 collection down the catwalk, the odd ‘Revolution’ and ‘Climate’ slogans splashed across their hats and tops. And yet, it was in the tapestry-like print of antique florals on dresses – which didn’t seem to have any immediate connection to the cause – that the collection really lit up.

You couldn’t help but hope that the reference to Hans Christian Andersen’s The Red Shoes, which appeared in Vivienne Westwood’s Red Label show notes, would be linked to the collection. But for Dame Vivienne, throwing shows is an opportunity to promote her activist causes, and Anderson’s brutal fairytale was merely a part of her campaign. While the story is normally used to illustrate materialism, it was climate refugees that were on the agenda for Sunday’s show, where every guest was given a postcard to fill in and send to the UN’s Secretary-General. Westwood’s co-activist Lily Cole opened the show with a Celtic earth mother dance before chalked-up models with creepy face paint walked the Spring/Summer 2014 collection down the catwalk, the odd ‘Revolution’ and ‘Climate’ slogans splashed across their hats and tops. And yet, it was in the tapestry-like print of antique florals on dresses – which didn’t seem to have any immediate connection to the cause – that the collection really lit up. Matched with the Celtic music and the smell of smoke and old wood, which had filled the German Gymnasium on Pancras Road, it made for a solid idea that could have held its own. But then again, how can you not applaud someone for using their platform to do good? Vivienne Westwood: saving the world one show at a time.